House Democrats plan to vote Thursday on a wide-ranging coronavirus relief package that will include expanded unemployment insurance, paid sick leave and food security assistance.

But the effort shows how political leaders are moving in much different directions in their rushed attempts to contain the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus outbreak. President Trump is pushing aides to develop a large tax cut package, and he could allow people to delay filing their taxes. The Senate, meanwhile, is moving more slowly and is unexpected to move before a congressional recess scheduled for next week.

Trump pitched Republican senators Tuesday on a big payroll tax reduction that could last through the end of the year and his reelection. But the response was skeptical, and House Democratic leaders are not including any such measure in their plan, which they hope to release later Wednesday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told fellow Democrats on Wednesday morning to expect a vote Thursday on their package. It has not been negotiated with the White House or congressional Republicans, but Democrats see a need to act in the midst of growing public concern and put pressure on the GOP. ...

Pelosi also spoke Wednesday morning with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, but she told reporters that White House priorities — included the broad payroll tax cut Trump supports — will not be included in the House package."

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for." - Barbara Kingsolver

I read somewhere the other day that McConnell is basically sitting this one out. Twitler is being pissy about meeting with Pelosi personally because of the impeachment. He's also mostly only interested in helping businesses and his own reelection. So the only ones doing a damned thing about this for the people are the Dems.

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -- Thomas Paine

One Group of Older Americans Is Ignoring Coronavirus Advice: Members of Congress

Many lawmakers are over 65, but congressional business continues, in conflict with public health guidelines.

Public health officials concerned about the new coronavirus have been warning people over 65 to avoid crowds, limit physical contact with others and skip “nonessential travel.”

Yet this week, a group of Americans 65 and older who fly frequently between cities — shaking hands with many strangers as they go — have been meeting in large groups to conduct their work. Between the U.S. House and Senate, there are almost 200 of them.

When a reporter in the Capitol asked Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, 85, what precautions he was taking to protect himself from the disease known as Covid-19, he said none — and extended his arm with confidence: “Wanna shake hands?”

Mr. Inhofe, chairman of the Armed Services committee, is one of five octogenarians in the Senate. In an institution where seniority reigns, it is an understatement to say that older Americans are overrepresented in Congress. Nearly half of the senators are 65 or older. Nearly 150 members of the comparatively younger House of Representatives are above that age.

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for." - Barbara Kingsolver

NEW YORK, March 11 (Reuters) - Health officials scheduled to testify at a congressional hearing on the fast-moving coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday are being called to an "emergency meeting" at the White House later today, Rep. Carolyn Maloney said, noting that the hearing would have to end early.

The witnesses, who include National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, will have to leave early, so the meeting will end at 11:45 ET, she said.

Maloney said that she did not have additional details about the meeting, except that it is urgent.

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for." - Barbara Kingsolver

Democrats and White House Race to Strike Deal for Coronavirus Relief Package

Democrats planned a Thursday vote on an aid package as the Treasury secretary said he hoped for a deal on a first phase of economic stimulus within 48 hours.

WASHINGTON — The White House and Democrats rushed on Wednesday to reach agreement on emergency legislation to provide a first tranche of economic assistance to help Americans cope with the fast-moving coronavirus pandemic, with the hope of sending it to President Trump for his signature by the end of the week.

With the White House and Democrats divided over what a broader economic stimulus package should look like, the two parties were trying to coalesce around the idea of a narrower short-term bill focusing on paid leave, enhanced unemployment insurance, food assistance and help for small businesses. That would defer what is likely to be a much more contentious discussion over other economic measures, such as tax cuts and rescue plans for affected industries, until after Congress returns from a weeklong recess.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, testifying on Capitol Hill, said he had been in “round the clock” discussions with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, and Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, and hoped to reach agreement within 48 hours on a relief package.

“This is a little bit like a hurricane, and we need to cover these outside of normal expenses,” Mr. Mnuchin said.

In the Capitol, both Democrats and Republicans clearly felt a sense of urgency as lawmakers plan to leave Washington on Thursday. Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat, said the House would vote Thursday on its plan, which includes enhanced unemployment insurance, a sweeping national paid sick leave program and food assistance, according to a summary circulated by leaders on Wednesday.

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for." - Barbara Kingsolver

The speaker has taken charge of the economic rescue plan as the coronavirus spreads.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was preparing to hop in a caravan of SUVs to depart the Capitol Tuesday afternoon when he called Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Mnuchin had just spent an hour huddling with Senate Republicans as President Donald Trump tried to sell wary GOP lawmakers on his plan to prevent an economic collapse from the coronavirus pandemic. Pelosi, who was having a hard time hearing Mnuchin due to poor cell phone reception, asked if he just wanted to come to her office across the Capitol instead.

Just hours before, Trump had taken his latest shot at Pelosi in a morning tweet. But that didn’t deter the speaker, who huddled with Mnuchin for a 30-minute meeting in her office. The two also chatted on the phone twice on Wednesday, and Pelosi is now on the verge of pushing through a massive stimulus bill that could earn GOP support, as well as Trump’s signature.

For any other leader, the rapid turnaround on the recovery plan would be a herculean feat at best. But for Pelosi, successfully negotiating a multi-billion-dollar economic package with a hostile and often antagonistic Trump administration was just another day in the speaker’s suite.

It’s also a reminder that for all Trump’s omnipresence on Twitter and cable TV, Pelosi remains the dominant figure on Capitol Hill when it comes time to actually getting something accomplished.

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for." - Barbara Kingsolver

The idea that anyone--ANYONE--would give any credence to, or even listen to anything that comes out of this malevolent, malignant, and dishonest administration on any topic, let alone one that is involves science, organization, and long-standing protocols, is something that annoys me day in and day out. Particularly today.

The idea that anyone--ANYONE--would give any credence to, or even listen to anything that comes out of this malevolent, malignant, and dishonest administration on any topic, let alone one that is involves science, organization, and long-standing protocols, is something that annoys me day in and day out. Particularly today.

"I know that human being and fish can coexist peacefully"
--- George W Bush

In a remarkable exchange from the second day of a House hearing on the coronavirus, Rep. Katie Porter, a Democratic from California, grilled the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday until he verbally—though reluctantly—committed to providing free coronavirus tests for all Americans, regardless of whether they have insurance.

The questioning came before the House Oversight and Reform Committee during a hearing in which the CDC director, Robert Redfield, joined Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, in answering questions about the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for." - Barbara Kingsolver

The U.S. government needs a coordinated response to the coronavirus on par with its response to the 2008 financial crisis. ...

The coronavirus pandemic poses a different kind of challenge, threatening the nation’s health as well as its economic prosperity, but it must be met with the same kind of audacious, coherent and coordinated response. ...

Declaring a national emergency would make clear that Mr. Trump understands the magnitude of the challenge, and set an example for leaders in the public and private sectors. On a practical level, such a declaration would remove legal barriers to a wide variety of necessary actions, such as the distribution of emergency aid to state and local governments.

This editorial board is not inclined to grant the president more executive power, given his track record. But this crisis demands such quick action in the interests of the American people that we can only hope he will set his more selfish impulses aside and rise to the moment. ...

As it did in 2008, Congress should move quickly to provide the government with the necessary tools to confront the crisis. Mr. Trump already has signed an $8.3 billion spending bill focused on public health measures, but more is needed. A clear priority is to mandate that workers can take paid sick leave, and then to defray the cost. There is also a strong argument for pumping money into the economy. Instead of a payroll tax holiday, as proposed by Mr. Trump, the government should distribute money directly to American households, as the Bush administration did in 2001 and in March 2008. A payroll tax cut is an incentive to work, and it won’t help people who are laid off. Mailing checks is the best way to put money in the hands of those who need it most.

The government also can boost economic growth in the longer term by taking advantage of low borrowing costs to fund infrastructure investment: repairing crumbling bridges, replacing leaded pipes, rebuilding urban transit systems, overhauling the electric grid.

But the details of the stimulus matter less than the urgency of the moment. Democrats and Republicans must set aside familiar debates and find common ground. It should go without saying that it is unthinkable that Congress would recess before addressing the crisis.

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for." - Barbara Kingsolver

President Donald Trump plans to declare a national emergency on Friday over the coronavirus outbreak, invoking the Stafford Act to open the door to more federal aid for states and municipalities, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Trump is under increasing pressure to act as governors and mayors nationwide step up actions to mitigate the spread, closing schools and canceling public events. The president said he will hold a news conference at 3 p.m.

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for." - Barbara Kingsolver

Russ Vought, the acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, on Tuesday doubled down on proposed cuts to health services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), despite the coronavirus outbreak.

Vought came under intense questioning from Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-Pa.) at a hearing about President Trump’s 2021 budget request. It proposed cutting Health and Human Services funding by $9.5 billion, including a 15 percent cut of $1.2 billion to the CDC and a $35 million decrease to the Infectious Diseases Rapid Response Reserve Fund's annual contribution.

“The question I have is, are we prepared to fight pandemics if we cut from programs that are specifically designed to prepare for them, including the coronavirus?” Cartwright asked.

Vought responded by saying Trump signed into law the $8.3 billion emergency supplemental package Congress approved last week.

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for." - Barbara Kingsolver

Did Disagreement Over Abortion Slow Coronavirus-Relief Talks?
Sources linked to Republican and Democratic lawmakers had each accused the other side of politicizing the negotiations.

On March 11, 2020, U.S. House Democrats released a draft of legislation aimed at providing economic relief to families affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The following day, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi began negotiations with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin over the language of the final bill. Despite mixed signals earlier in the day, Pelosi on March 13 announced that a deal had been reached with the White House.

One talking point that emerged during the negotiations was an allegation that Pelosi was delaying or hindering the talks by, according to the anti-abortion website Life News, “trying to add taxpayer financing of abortions to the bill to combat the Coronavirus.” We reached out to Pelosi’s office for comment, but have not yet received a response. This claim originated from a report in the Daily Caller, which cited “multiple senior White House officials” as the source:

The account reported by Daily Caller, however, is one-sided. On March 12, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez characterized the negotiations the opposite way, arguing that it was the White House holding up talks because of its insistence on adding anti-abortion language. “Right now we are hearing that some of the fights and some of the gridlock is because people are trying to put pro-life provisions into this,” she told Fox News’ Brett Baier. We reached out to Ocasio-Cortez’s office for clarification on this point, but have not received a response.

The hold-up appeared to have concerned the inclusion — or lack of inclusion — of what is known as Hyde Amendment language in a proposed plan to create a federal fund to reimburse private insurers for covering the cost of coronavirus laboratory testing. The Hyde Amendment, which is added each year as a rider to the U.S. Health and Human Services funding bill, prohibits the federal government from funding abortions except in rare cases.

"[Moderate] doesn't mean you don't have views. It just means your views aren't predictable ideologically one way or the other, and you're trying to follow the facts where they lead and reach your own conclusions."
-- Sen. King (I-ME)